You have to love colored seatbelts. Red is great. The light blue belts in the Hyundai Veloster N are incredible. Now, the optional performance pack for the electric 2020 Polestar 2 may not add any more power, but it will wrap you safely in gold, among other things, for around $6,600 (in Europe).
The “base” Polestar 2 has already been labeled a performance electric hatchback, but to take it a little further, Volvo’s electrified performance sister brand will offer an optional performance pack that includes gold-colored four-piston Brembo front brakes, adjustable Öhlins dampers, and 20-inch forged alloy wheels. Oh, and the aforementioned gold-colored seatbelts, along with gold-colored valve caps.
In Europe, the performance pack will cost an additional 6,000 Euros (though it varies slightly depending on local markets) on top of the 59,800 Euro (or roughly $66,000) starting price, totaling 65,800 Euros (or roughly $72,500). At current exchange rates, 6,000 Euros is equivalent to approximately $6,600, but both model pricing and option pricing for the Chinese and North American markets will be officially announced at a later date.
(Pricing may very well be less in the U.S. than the directly translated prices above, as is the case with the Tesla Model 3.)
Polestar already has a pretty solid car on their hands, with a 300 kilowatt, or 402 horsepower, all-wheel drive powertrain with 487 lb-ft of torque, powered by a 78 kWh battery pack. I guess with those numbers, Polestar assumes it doesn’t need to boost performance beyond suspension and handling upgrades, and they’re probably right.
The Polestar 2 is one of the more compelling competitors to the Tesla Model 3 Performance, which is all-wheel-drive with a 75 kWh battery pack powering two motors good for 450 horsepower and 471 lb-ft of torque. The Model 3 also has an impressive 310-mile range, while Polestar has previously announced the 2 is “targeting” an EPA-estimated 275-mile range.
While the Tesla clearly has the edge performance-wise, the two cars are pretty close on paper—and in Europe, the Model 3 Performance costs more compared to the Polestar 2 across the board, though it varies by country. In the UK, the Model 3 Performance is priced at £56,900 versus the Polestar’s £54,900 (including the performance package).
But it looks like Polestar will have a slightly more affordable, marginally less capable attractive electric hatchback sedan to take on Tesla, and that’s still a very good place to be.
